Overview

A recurring observation in the study of reproductive proteins is their rapid, adaptive evolution. This phenomenon occurs in organisms diverse as diatoms and humans. The long-term goal of our research is to understand the diversity of reproductive proteins and the functional consequences of their divergence, which could involve problems in fertility and speciation due to a mismatch of sperm-egg recognition molecules.

We work with a variety of organisms, including Drosophila, abalone (Haliotis), and mammals. A common theme throughout our research is identifying genes subjected to positive selection (adaptive evolution), indicating potentially functionally important candidate genes. Once identified using comparative genomic approaches, these proteins are targets for further functional characterization.

Publications (Pubmed Search)

Adaptive Evolution in Rodent Seminal Vesicle Secretion Proteins.
Karn RC, Clark NL, Nguyen ED, Swanson WJ
Mol Biol Evol. 2008 Aug 20;

Proteomics reveals novel Drosophila seminal fluid proteins transferred at mating.
Findlay GD, Yi X, Maccoss MJ, Swanson WJ
PLoS Biol. 2008 Jul 29; 6(7): e178

Dietary change and adaptive evolution of enamelin in humans and among primates.
Kelley JL, Swanson WJ
Genetics. 2008 Mar ; 178(3): 1595-603

Extraordinary intraspecific diversity in oyster sperm bindin.
Moy GW, Springer SA, Adams SL, Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Feb 12; 105(6): 1993-8

Positive selection in the human genome: from genome scans to biological significance.
Kelley JL, Swanson WJ
Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. 2008; 9: 143-60

Oyster sperm bindin is a combinatorial fucose lectin with remarkable intra-species diversity.
Springer SA, Moy GW, Friend DS, Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Int J Dev Biol. 2008; 52(5-6): 759-68

Adaptive evolution in an avian reproductive protein: ZP3.
Calkins JD, El-Hinn D, Swanson WJ
J Mol Evol. 2007 Nov ; 65(5): 555-63

Duplication and selection on abalone sperm lysin in an allopatric population.
Clark NL, Findlay GD, Yi X, MacCoss MJ, Swanson WJ
Mol Biol Evol. 2007 Sep ; 24(9): 2081-90

Gene duplication and adaptive evolution of digestive proteases in Drosophila arizonae female reproductive tracts.
Kelleher ES, Swanson WJ, Markow TA
PLoS Genet. 2007 Aug ; 3(8): e148

Evidence of amino acid diversity-enhancing selection within humans and among primates at the candidate sperm-receptor gene PKDREJ.
Hamm D, Mautz BS, Wolfner MF, Aquadro CF, Swanson WJ
Am J Hum Genet. 2007 Jul ; 81(1): 44-52

Rapidly evolving zona pellucida domain proteins are a major component of the vitelline envelope of abalone eggs.
Aagaard JE, Yi X, MacCoss MJ, Swanson WJ
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Nov 14; 103(46): 17302-7

Molecular population genetics of the gene encoding the human fertilization protein zonadhesin reveals rapid adaptive evolution.
Gasper J, Swanson WJ
Am J Hum Genet. 2006 Nov ; 79(5): 820-30

Identification and comparative analysis of accessory gland proteins in Orthoptera.
Braswell WE, Andrés JA, Maroja LS, Harrison RG, Howard DJ, Swanson WJ
Genome. 2006 Sep ; 49(9): 1069-80

Molecular evolution and population genetic analysis of candidate female reproductive genes in Drosophila.
Panhuis TM, Swanson WJ
Genetics. 2006 Aug ; 173(4): 2039-47

Molecular evolution of seminal proteins in field crickets.
Andrés JA, Maroja LS, Bogdanowicz SM, Swanson WJ, Harrison RG
Mol Biol Evol. 2006 Aug ; 23(8): 1574-84

TRPV6 exhibits unusual patterns of polymorphism and divergence in worldwide populations.
Akey JM, Swanson WJ, Madeoy J, Eberle M, Shriver MD
Hum Mol Genet. 2006 Jul 1; 15(13): 2106-13

Rapid evolution of reproductive proteins in abalone and Drosophila.
Panhuis TM, Clark NL, Swanson WJ
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2006 Feb 28; 361(1466): 261-8

Evolution of reproductive proteins from animals and plants.
Clark NL, Aagaard JE, Swanson WJ
Reproduction. 2006 Jan ; 131(1): 11-22

Pervasive adaptive evolution in primate seminal proteins.
Clark NL, Swanson WJ
PLoS Genet. 2005 Sep ; 1(3): e35

Speciation in birds: genes, geography, and sexual selection.
Edwards SV, Kingan SB, Calkins JD, Balakrishnan CN, Jennings WB, Swanson WJ, Sorenson MD
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 May 3; 102 Suppl 1: 6550-7

Adaptive evolution in the SRZ chemoreceptor families of Caenorhabditis elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae.
Thomas JH, Kelley JL, Robertson HM, Ly K, Swanson WJ
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Mar 22; 102(12): 4476-81

Positive selection in the carbohydrate recognition domains of sea urchin sperm receptor for egg jelly(suREJ) proteins.
Mah SA, Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Mol Biol Evol. 2005 Mar ; 22(3): 533-41

Evolutionary expressed sequence tag analysis of Drosophila female reproductive tracts identifies genes subjected to positive selection.
Swanson WJ, Wong A, Wolfner MF, Aquadro CF
Genetics. 2004 Nov ; 168(3): 1457-65

A perforin-like protein from a marine mollusk.
Mah SA, Moy GW, Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2004 Apr 2; 316(2): 468-75

Adaptive evolution of genes and gene families.
Swanson WJ
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2003 Dec ; 13(6): 617-22

Population genetics of accessory gland proteins and sexual behavior in Drosophila melanogaster populations from Evolution Canyon.
Panhuis TM, Swanson WJ, Nunney L
Evolution. 2003 Dec ; 57(12): 2785-91

Sex peptide and the sperm effect in Drosophila melanogaster.
Swanson WJ
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Aug 19; 100(17): 9643-4

Positive selection in the egg receptor for abalone sperm lysin.
Galindo BE, Vacquier VD, Swanson WJ
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Apr 15; 100(8): 4639-43

Pervasive adaptive evolution in mammalian fertilization proteins.
Swanson WJ, Nielsen R, Yang Q
Mol Biol Evol. 2003 Jan ; 20(1): 18-20

A test for faster X evolution in Drosophila.
Betancourt AJ, Presgraves DC, Swanson WJ
Mol Biol Evol. 2002 Oct ; 19(10): 1816-9

Full-length sequence of VERL, the egg vitelline envelope receptor for abalone sperm lysin.
Galindo BE, Moy GW, Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Gene. 2002 Apr 17; 288(1-2): 111-7

Positive darwinian selection promotes heterogeneity among members of the antifreeze protein multigene family.
Swanson WJ, Aquadro CF
J Mol Evol. 2002 Mar ; 54(3): 403-10

The rapid evolution of reproductive proteins.
Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Nat Rev Genet. 2002 Feb ; 3(2): 137-44

Codon-substitution models to detect adaptive evolution that account for heterogeneous selective pressures among site classes.
Yang Z, Swanson WJ
Mol Biol Evol. 2002 Jan ; 19(1): 49-57

Evolutionary EST analysis identifies rapidly evolving male reproductive proteins in Drosophila.
Swanson WJ, Clark AG, Waldrip-Dail HM, Wolfner MF, Aquadro CF
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jun 19; 98(13): 7375-9

Polymorphism in abalone fertilization proteins is consistent with the neutral evolution of the egg's receptor for lysin (VERL) and positive darwinian selection of sperm lysin.
Swanson WJ, Aquadro CF, Vacquier VD
Mol Biol Evol. 2001 Mar ; 18(3): 376-83

Positive Darwinian selection drives the evolution of several female reproductive proteins in mammals.
Swanson WJ, Yang Z, Wolfner MF, Aquadro CF
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Feb 27; 98(5): 2509-14

Maximum-likelihood analysis of molecular adaptation in abalone sperm lysin reveals variable selective pressures among lineages and sites.
Yang Z, Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Mol Biol Evol. 2000 Oct ; 17(10): 1446-55

A rapidly diverging EGF protein regulates species-specific signal transduction in early sea urchin development.
Kamei N, Swanson WJ, Glabe CG
Dev Biol. 2000 Sep 15; 225(2): 267-76

Concerted evolution in an egg receptor for a rapidly evolving abalone sperm protein.
Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Science. 1998 Jul 31; 281(5377): 710-2

Direct sequencing of genomic DNA for characterization of a satellite DNA in five species of eastern Pacific abalone.
Muchmore ME, Moy GW, Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Mol Mar Biol Biotechnol. 1998 Mar ; 7(1): 1-6

The abalone egg vitelline envelope receptor for sperm lysin is a giant multivalent molecule.
Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Jun 24; 94(13): 6724-9

Positive Darwinian selection on two homologous fertilization proteins: what is the selective pressure driving their divergence?
Vacquier VD, Swanson WJ, Lee YH
J Mol Evol. 1997; 44 Suppl 1: S15-22

The sea urchin sperm receptor for egg jelly is a modular protein with extensive homology to the human polycystic kidney disease protein, PKD1.
Moy GW, Mendoza LM, Schulz JR, Swanson WJ, Glabe CG, Vacquier VD
J Cell Biol. 1996 May ; 133(4): 809-17

Liposome fusion induced by a M(r) 18,000 protein localized to the acrosomal region of acrosome-reacted abalone spermatozoa.
Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Biochemistry. 1995 Oct 31; 34(43): 14202-8

Extraordinary divergence and positive Darwinian selection in a fusagenic protein coating the acrosomal process of abalone spermatozoa.
Swanson WJ, Vacquier VD
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 May 23; 92(11): 4957-61